w of piety, and so is oppression when it
assumes the disguise of justice and foresight. It is nothing new that
they who seize the wives, daughters, houses, lands and goods of others
desire to be just and holy, as we showed above in respect of the
papacy.

226. This is the second stage then: When the saints have seen and
judged the wickedness of the world, God also sees it. He says of the
Sodomites: "The cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah" (Gen 19,
13); and above (ch 4, 10): "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth
unto me." But always before the Lord takes note, the sobs and groans
of the righteous precede, arousing, as it were, the Lord from slumber.

What Moses desires to show in this passage through the word, "saw" is
that God finally perceived the afflictions and heard the cries of the
righteous, filling at last all heaven. He who hitherto had winked at
everything and seemed to favor the success of the wicked, was awakened
as from slumber. The fact is he saw everything much sooner than Noah;
for he is the searcher of hearts and cannot be deceived by simulated
piety as we can. But not until now, when he meditates punishment, does
Noah perceive that he sees.

227. Thus we are afflicted today by extreme and unheard of wickedness,
for our adversaries condemn from sheer caprice the truth they know and
profess. They try to get at our throats and shed the blood of the
righteous with a satanic fury. Such blasphemous, sacrilegious and
parricidal doings against the kingdom and name of God, manifest as
such beyond possibility of denial, they defend as the acme of justice.
While contending for the maintenance of their tyrannical position they
go so far as to arrogate to themselves the name of the Church. What
else can we do here but cry to Jehovah to make his name sacred and not
to permit the overthrow of his kingdom nor resistance to his paternal
will?

228. But so far the Lord sleeps. He apparently does not observe such
wickedness, because he gives no sign as yet of observing it. Rather he
permits us to be tormented by such woeful sights. We are, therefore,
thus far in the first stage and this verse, stating that the whole
earth is corrupt, applies to our age. But at the proper time the
second stage will be reached, when we can declare in certainty of
faith that not only we but God also sees and hates such wickedness.
Though God, in his long-suffering, has continued to wink at many
things, he shall retain the name